Tag Archives: 911

1980 Porsche 911 Turbo R69 by Rinspeed

If you thought the 1980s were a period of excess then consider the people who bought this car. “I want a Porsche and I want a Ferrari.” Well here, have both, said Rinspeed. Actually, that’s not true… those dramatic side strakes that look like they were ripped right off a Testarossa were actually designed a few years before the big Ferrari ever went on sale.

This car started as a 1980 Porsche 911 (930) Turbo. That means it’s got a 296 horsepower, turbocharged 3.3-liter flat-six tucked out back. In 1983, the first owner sent it to Rinspeed in Switzerland to get the full Rinspeed 969 – or R69 – treatment. This meant the addition of pop-up headlights from the Porsche 944, those super-80s side strakes, and custom wheels. Basically, the task at hand was “box-ify it.” And that they did.

After a few years in storage, this example has recently been repainted in Rinspeed Pearl White and shows 69,000 original miles. It’s a straight-up Miami Vice ride. It’s thought that only 12 of these re-bodies were completed as they likely were not cheap. This one is selling at no reserve with no pre-sale estimate available. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

The 1993 Porsche 911 Carrera RS Models

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Amelia Island, Florida | March 10, 2018

1993 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.8

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The 964 was the generation of Porsche 911 cars produced between 1989 and 1994. These were air-cooled cars and were offered as coupes, cabriolets, and targas. A Turbo went on sale in 1990 but Porsche had something more exclusive in mind with the Carrera RS series of cars that first went on sale in Europe in 1992.

For 1993, Porsche introduced the Carrera RS 3.8, which was a Europe-only model. It was a lightweight, rear-wheel drive road car powered by a 3.8-liter flat-six making 300 horsepower. It also sported the body and styling from the 911 Turbo. Sold through 1994, only 55 examples of this car were built.

This is the second-to-last car built and it has been in the U.S. on a “Show and Display” license since 2015. It’s a super rare 911 road car that will demand big money when it goes under the hammer next month. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $1,655,000.

1993 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.8

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

So what’s the difference between this car and the car above? Well, that second “R” in the name, for starters. That is an “R” as in racing. If you look closely you’ll be able to see that there is a full roll cage in there and only one seat. It might be painted like a road-going 911, but it is a full-on race car.

Porsche is amazing because this, like many of their customer race cars, are built on the same 911 assembly line as the road cars. It wears the same Turbo-look body as the road car and has the same 3.8-liter flat-six, but in racing guise it’s good for as much as 375 horsepower. Zero to 60 came in 3.7 seconds and it topped out at 181 mph.

Porsche built 55 of these as well, enough for FIA homologation. This one was delivered new to Japan and was never competitively raced, just used at private facilities by its well-heeled owners. It’s another big money car. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $1,270,000.

1993 Porsche 911 Carrera RS America

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Porsche built their RS models and sold them in Europe, mainly, but not in the U.S. Well, America has quite a taste for high-performance cars and they wanted in, so to make them happy, Porsche built this: the Carrera RS America.

Built for 1993 and 1994 only, the RS America features a lack of features most 911s would’ve originally had. Things like: power steering, cruise control, powered mirrors, air conditioning, sunroof, and even a radio (though you could heap some of them back on as options). The engine is a 3.6-liter flat-six making 250 horsepower. Top speed was 157 mph.

Equipped with the big “whale tail” spoiler, this Carrera RS America is #34 of 701 built. It’s a 1,600 mile car and it is street legal in the U.S. (unlike the two cars above). While this may be the least expensive of the three cars shown here, it is by no means “cheap.” Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

2012 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 4.0 Brumos Edition

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 5-14, 2018

Photo – Mecum

Porsche is the king of factory-built customer race cars and they’ve been doing it for quite some time. These racers are built on the same production line as the road cars. One of their premier outlets for such cars is Brumos Porsche of Jacksonville, Florida. Brumos Racing has been a staple at Florida’s endurance races (Sebring, Daytona) for a long time with drivers like Hurley Haywood.

This generation of the 911 GT3 Cup (the 997) was introduced in 2009 and built through 2011 with a 3.8-liter engine. However, this 2012 car features a version of the 4.0-liter flat-six from the GT3 RS 4.0 that makes more than 450 horsepower in this application. This is a full-fledged race car and it is not street legal – though it does have two seats if you want to scare your friends.

The last five U.S.-spec 997 GT3 Cup cars were all 4.0-liter cars sent to Brumos and sold as “Brumos Edition” racers. Jerry Seinfeld had one – it brought over $450,000 in 2016. Mecum has been trying to move the car you see here for what seems like ever. Hopefully it finds a new owner this January in Florida. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

1984 Ruf BTR

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 5-14, 2018

Photo – Mecum

The BTR was Ruf Automobile’s first big time model. Ruf, of course, is interesting because they are their own manufacturer as they get Porsche chassis/bodies before a VIN tag is applied and tune them, before selling them under their own name. This car began life as a Porsche 911 (930) Turbo.

The BTR was available between 1983 and 1989. They built between 20-30 original cars, and converted (or upgraded) a few 930 Turbos after that to BTR specification. That specification is a turbocharged 3.4-liter flat-6 making 374 horsepower, which is 40-ish more horsepower than you would’ve had if you’d stuck with the Porsche.

When introduced this was among the fastest cars in the world, with a top speed approaching 190 mph. This car sports 35,000 miles and it’s a very rare opportunity to acquire one. A few Rufs have come up for sale recently, but this is a classic. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

1996 Porsche 911 GT2 Evo

Offered by Mecum | Dallas, Texas | November 2-5, 2016

Photo – Mecum

The 993 generation of the Porsche 911 was produced between the U.S. model years 1995 and 1998. This generation’s Turbo model was the first to feature all wheel drive – but that was a no-go for the FIA, which required manufacturers to base their race cars on road cars – and race cars had to be rear wheel drive.

So Porsche decided to build a 911 called the GT2 that would be very similar to the Turbo, but without drive going to the front wheels. This car is powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter flat-6 making 600 horsepower. The base GT2 was built between 1995 and 1998 and only made 444 horsepower, but as you can see, this Evo version produced much more and has a lot of racing bits bolted on to the car.

Only 11 GT2 Evos were built by Porsche, making it a very rare homologation special. It’s also pretty extreme, with a roll cage and a single seat – perfect for track days. Whether or not it is street legal I’m not certain, but I am sure there are states that would say “NO!” This exact car no-sold at Mecum in Monterey for about a million bucks, so expect it to take more than that to find a new owner in Dallas. Click here for more info and here for more from Mecum.

1992 Porsche 911 Carrera RS

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | November 2, 2014

Photo – Artcurial

This generation of Porsche’s 911 was dubbed the 964. Introduced in 1989, it was a big step forward for the 911 line. It was replaced after 1994. Recently, special variants of the 911 have skyrocketed in price.

The Carrera RS was built for 1992. It was the first time the RS name had been used since the legendary 2.7 RS of the early 1970s. This new special edition was a homologation model so Porsche could go racing. It was a factory lightweight and was fitted with a special 3.6-liter flat-six making 260 horsepower. It was only sold in Europe.

Only 290 were built and this one has had only two owners since 1992 and has only covered about 31,000 miles. It’s been a French car all its life and is being sold in France. It should bring between $290,000-$350,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Artcurial’s lineup.

1998 Porsche 911 GT1 Straßenversion

Offered by RM Auctions | Monterey, California | August 18, 2012

Photo – RM Auctions

Remember a week or so ago when we talked about the late-90s homologation specials that were thinly disguised race cars made street legal by some soft tuning and modification, namely the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR? Well you’re looking at its biggest competitor, the Porsche 911 GT1. This is the rarest supercar Porsche has ever made. And it is glorious.

The race version of the CLK GTR never won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Porsche, however, did – taking the top two spots on the podium in 1998. We actually featured a 911 GT1 Evo a few months ago when it came up for sale. But, in order to race these ridiculous “GT” cars, Porsche was required to build road-going examples, just as Mercedes and McLaren did.

The first road car was delivered in 1997. It featured a detuned version of the race car’s 3.2-liter twin-turbo flat-6, making 544 horsepower. The car could do 194 mph and hit 60 mph in 3.6 seconds. The base price was a very Porsche-sounding $912,000. This particular car is believed to be the only registered 911 GT1 road car in the United States. Approximately 25 were built in total (how no one knows the exact number is a little disheartening as Porsche is a reputable company and they are German, thus they are, stereotypically, supposed to be organized and on top of such things).

If you want to own the rarest of rare Porsches with performance and outrageous looks equaled by very few cars, then this one’s for you. Show up at any Porsche show with it and even people with 959s and Carrera GTs will be staring at their shoes in embarrassment of having “just another production Porsche.” The price is expected to be in the $1,250,000-$1,400,000 range. For more information, click here. And for more from RM in Monterey, click here.

1997 Porsche 911 GT1 Evolution

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 9, 2012

Photo – Gooding & Company

The Drendel Family Collection of Porsches that Gooding & Company are offering at Amelia Island this year is pretty amazing. The number of competition cars alone is staggering. But of all of them – yes, including the 917/30 we featured last week – this is the one that I want most, granted the street version (yes, they built a GT1 road car) would be even more incredible.

The McLaren F1 won overall at the 1995 24 Hours of LeMans. When Porsche saw this, they said, “Why not us?” Thus they built a prototype race car, seen here, and then added a few road car variants (supposedly 25) to make it legal as a GT1 car. In 1996 they won their class, finishing 2nd and 3rd overall.

1997 was even more competitive with new entries from Mercedes-Benz and Panoz. The 911 GT1 was slightly reworked and dubbed the GT1 Evolution. The car being offered here (chassis #993-GT1-004) was entered with drivers Bob Wolleck, Hans Stuck, and Thierry Bousten. A few hours past halfway, Wolleck spun and crashed and the car was out of the race. The sister car later retired with three hours to go. While this car never won an outright race during its competition history, it was still a serious competitor, placing 3rd at Laguna Seca in its final factory-backed race.

Underneath the rear body work sits a 3.2 liter twin-turbo Flat-6 making around 600 horsepower. On the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans it was capable of about 205 mph.

There were some great sports-prototype race cars campaigned in the late 1990s. This is one of them. And while I wait for a “Straßenversion” to come up for sale, I guess I will have to settle for this race version with a pre-sale estimate of $900,000-$1,200,000.

Photo – Gooding & Company

For the complete catalog description, click here and for the rest of the Gooding lineup for tomorrow’s auction, click here.